OT: What is this thing...anyone have any info???

[dolphin]

What is this?  Anybody got any more info on this one?  What is it used for?
?
These pictures were taken in the Port of Ilwaco on the Washington State coast. ?The crew wore civilian clothes but guarded the boat closely and would not answer any questions.


It was suggested it may be something Boeing is working on. The pontoons appear to be made of very thick rubber and may be fuel cells. ?Note that each of the steel spider-like legs are jointed in three places. ?Perhaps the boat can be lowered in calm seas and raised when it is rough.


The boat had no name or number...



The crew would not say who they were or where they were from, and were not allowed to discuss the craft.






I checked SNOPES and could not find any info pro or con!

[D76]

Did a search for Ilwaco catamaran that yielded a bunch of links. This bunch doesn't take it too seriously.

It looks like the drydock used in the TV Star Trek flop Enterprise.

[RNKIII]

Seems strange that the 'bow' of the 'cabin' faces aft... If you consider the up-turned points of the pontoons to face forward???

Saw some larger closer up photos and the supports were fastened to the pontoons by very thick braided cables.


Don't know any more than that but it is an 'interesting' looking contraption???  Where does the 'rubber hit the road', so to speak??  What's the propulsion??


Bob K.   rnkiii

[D76]

From  The Oregonian:

QUOTE

It turns out that a California inventor named Ugo Conti holds a patent for such a vessel. Conti, who has nine other registered patents, owns a company called Marine Advanced Research, in El Cerrito, Calif. He could not be reached for comment, but Conti's wife, Isabella, acknowledged the craft was owned by Marine Advanced Research. She said everyone involved with the boat was operating under strict confidentiality agreements.

"We're planning a press conference in January, given that the boat is not yet finished," she said.

[MamaMoose]

Baloney! Its a very hush-hush craft first developed at Lockheed's Skunk Works.  If so, It would be  very dangerous for  any individual to poke their nose into its capabilities, builders, or purpose.  I believe it could be a a system that develops a huge magnetic field sufficient to pull a large enemy submarine right out of the water! it would then be attached under the cabin and dragged to port where American engineers could dismantle it. On the otherhand, it could be a boat that drops a net and catches a load of fish which it then hoists up to the main cabin. Perhaps it was designed to skim over the water like a water bug which uses surface tension to say agloat.

It is also possible that D76 is rightand it is a new invention.

MamaMoose

[dolphin]

QUOTE(RNKIII @ Dec 10 2006, 09:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Seems strange that the 'bow' of the 'cabin' faces aft... If you consider the up-turned points of the pontoons to face forward???

Saw some larger closer up photos and the supports were fastened to the pontoons by very thick braided cables.
Don't know any more than that but it is an 'interesting' looking contraption???  Where does the 'rubber hit the road', so to speak??  What's the propulsion??
Bob K.   rnkiii

Can't really see the prop, but it says each pontoon has one!

[Jack W]

Sorry, but the cabin looks to me like it's facing forward.

Anyway, it's a neat contraption.

[RNKIII]

Correct, JackW, in that the windows(?) are facing forward.... BUT the rear of the cabin(?) has a bow-like configuration    

Oh, well.... like you say, neat machine..

Bob K.   rnkiii

[krissel]

More of the same:


http://thrillingwonder.blogspot.com/2006/1...ars-out-of.html

http://www.lukeknipe.com/stories/strange_watercraft.asp]http://thrillingwonder.blogspot.com/2006/1..._watercraft.asp